A major concern in the operation of vehicles is the avoidance of obstacles surrounding the vehicle. Many obstacles are not seen by the driver of the vehicle due to the fact the object is in a blind spot, the object is behind the vehicle or the driver is not paying attention. Present systems for dealing with vehicle blind spots or obstacle avoidance have not proved entirely satisfactory.
Prior systems have included the use of ultrasonic devices, microwave systems using Doppler shift principles and alert devices that warn of a backing vehicle. Ultrasonic devices send out sonic signals which bounce off of an obstacle and return to a receiving unit. Microwave systems utilizing Doppler shift principles rely on the phenomena that the returned signal from a target obstacle will have a frequency that is shifted from the original frequency based on whether the object is approaching or receding from the vehicle. The problems with ultrasonic and Doppler shift microwave systems include lack of accuracy, noise rejection, reliability, size constraints and high manufacturing costs. Alert devices warning of a backing vehicle are not sufficient to warn of stationary objects which, of course, cannot move, and many times individuals may ignore a backing alarm. Another problem with the backing alarm is it provides no information to the vehicle operator.
Thus, a need has arisen for a system allowing a vehicle operator to have a more accurate presence of obstacles surrounding a vehicle and overcoming presently existing technological limitations.